In the MLB Top 10s, here's what we do: rank players according to criteria. Those criteria change depending upon week and whim, but the Top 10s will always be informed by some angle or another, painfully contrived or otherwise.

And that brings us to this week's guiding query: Who are the AL West’s best position players and pitchers for 2015? Yes, we’re in the fifth week of a six-week tour of each of baseball’s divisions and the authoritative naming of the best performers therein.

All that matters is total overall value. I don’t care about how good the teams in question will be, only how the player in question figures to perform. Oh, and he must play for the Astros, Angels, Mariners, Rangers or Athletics. As always, defense and base-running matter for position players — it’s not about the bat only.

Know who’ll be featured prominently in the rankings below? This guy. (USATSI)
Know who’ll be featured prominently in the rankings below? This guy. (USATSI)

We’re of course not that far into the 2015 season, so results to date -- small sample size! -- won’t matter as much as they will later on. They’ll be taken into account for sure, but what’s alsi important is our reasonable expectation of how the player will perform for all of 2015. And the healthy majority of 2015 is yet to come.

And now let us recite baseball names for the dual purposes of SEO and making you angry. Feel free to brandish your incorrect opinions and make idle threats in the comments section.

Weapons-grade complaints and spleen-venting? By all means, reach out to the author at hotmail@hotmail.jpg.

First up, the position players ... 

RANK COMMENT
1 Mike Trout, Angels. Mmm hmm. Trout it is. He's the reigning AL MVP, he's been the best player in baseball over the last three full seasons, he's still just 23, and he's one pace for 43 homers and 30 steals this season. So, yes, he's at the top.  
2 Jose Altuve, Astros. The Diminutive One is off to a fine start in 2015. Coming off a highly productive 2014, Altuve this season is batting .316/.374/.468. Needless to say, that's excellent production for an up-the-middle defender who also adds plenty of value on the bases. 
3 Stephen Vogt, Athletics. Vogt put up good numbers in 2014, and he's been on another level entirely thus far in 2015. Right now, he's batting .318/.421/.627, and he's on pace to spend more than 1,000 innings behind the plate. He knows the strike zone, he's long had power, he's made adjustments. For 2015, I'm in on Vogt. 
4 Nelson Cruz, Mariners. I was very much a Cruz skeptic after he left the Rangers prior to the 2014 season, but he's done nothing but knock the innards out of the ball since then. Specifically, over that span he's batted .284/.345/.557 (150 OPS+) with 55 homers in 196 games. Presently, he's leading the AL in OPS+ and leading the majors in total bases. 
5 Robinson Cano, Mariners. Cano's long been a slow-starter, so keep that in mind when surveying his current lackluster level of production. On the one hand, he's  32, and he has more than 13,000 defensive innings at the wear-and-tear position of second base. So it's possible decline is setting in. On the other hand, Cano owns a career OPS+ of 126 and an OPS+ of 140 since 2010. Last year, he proved he can hit in Seattle. He'll hit, but it's possible his best days are behind him. 
6 Josh Reddick, Athletics. Reddick has become more selective at the plate while at the same time improving his contact skills. That's yielded good results. This season, Reddick has walked in 11.5 percent of his plate appearances while striking out in just 10.1 percent of same. That's what's enabled his line of .317/.396/.545. Throw in his excellent defense, and you've got a player. 
7 Kyle Seager, Mariners. Seager's not yet hitting in a customary fashion, but his line of .255/.304/.423, once you adjust for park and league environment, is useful. He remains a plus defender at the hot corner, and his track record suggests better numbers at the plate are to come. 
8 Adrian Beltre, Rangers. Even in decline, Interrobang remains a worthy contributor. Although he's in his age-36 season, he's still a pronounced asset in the field, and the ZiPS projection system forecasts Interrobang for a line of .293/.341/.467 over the rest of the season. Viva la Interrobang.
9 Prince Fielder, Rangers. Is he back? He might indeed be.  Last season, Fielder was forced to undergo neck surgery, and he played in just 42 games as a result. This season, he's back, he's healthy, and he's hitting .344/.401/.497. There's surely some batted-ball luck in those numbers, but he's in prime form when it comes to generating hard contact off the bat. 
10 Kole Calhoun, Angels. Across parts of four big-league seasons, the 27-year-old Calhoun owns an OPS+ of 121. As well, he's coming off a 2014 campaign in which he approached 4.0 WAR. He has a solid glove, and for his career he's taken the extra-base 53 percent of the time. Underrated player, this one. 

And now for the pitchers ... 

RANK COMMENT
1 Felix Hernandez, Mariners. The best pitcher in all of baseball? It might indeed be King Felix. He's off to an exceptional start in 2015, and he'll be trying to top 200 innings for the eighth straight season. King Felix ranks 38th on the all-time list with a career ERA+ of 131.   
2 Dallas Keuchel, Astros. No one keeps the ball on the ground quite like Keuchel. He leads all qualifiers with a ground-ball/fly-ball ratio of 3.81, and that's in keeping with what he achieved in his breakout season of 2014. Presently, the 27-year-old lefty boasts a 1.87 ERA and leads the AL in innings. 
3 Sonny Gray, Athletics. Gray has command of four pitches and a strong track record of performance at the highest level. This season, he's reaching new heights, as he's presently pitching to an ERA of 1.61 and running a K/BB ratio of 3.53. In 2014, he laid aside questions of durability as he made 33 starts and worked 219 innings. 
4 Garrett Richards, Angels. Richards was in the midst of authoring a Cy Young-worthy 2014 when a serious knee injury cut his season short. He's still getting back his command, but he's keeping runs off the board and missing bats. Richards enjoyed velocity gains last season, and he's shown no signs of losing those gains in 2015. Yes, he's an ace. 
5 Scott Kazmir, Athletics. Kazmir's ongoing renaissance remains a remarkable story. Since returning to the majors prior to the 2013 season, he's pitched to an ERA+ of 103 with a K/BB ratio of 3.23. Kazmir's changeup is a true weapon, with plenty of fade and a tremendous amount of velocity separation relative to his fastball. 
6 Collin McHugh, Astros. McHugh joined the Astros prior to last season, began featuring his slider, and good results followed. He had strong command indicators in 2014, and this year he's made further strides with his control. This season, he's struck out 45 batters against just 10 walks. Consider this a successful reclamation project. 
7 J.A. Happ, Mariners. What did the Mariners see in a semi-journeyman like Happ? They likely saw that he added velocity to his entire arsenal last season and that he also became more confident in his fastball, which, in turned, allowed him to have more command. This season, he boasts a sub-3.00 ERA, and he's posting what's easily the best K/BB ratio of his career. I'm bullish on Happ's near-term outlook. 
8 C.J. Wilson, Angels. Save for his disappointing 2014, Wilson's Angels tenure has been largely successful. He's made at least 31 starts in each of the last five seasons, and thus far in 2015 he's shown significantly improved control. He is not and never has been an ace, but he's a mid-rotation guy who answers the bell and generally posts better-than-average run prevention numbers. 
9 Nick Martinez, Rangers. No, Martinez's current ERA of 1.88 isn't going to hold up, but he's a different pitcher in 2015. His pitch mix this season suggests he's now a sinker-slider guy who keeps the ball on the ground. That's led to better results thus far and certainly raises his profile moving forward. 
10 Jesse Chavez, Athletics. The swingman Chavez has emerged as a real stabilizer on the Oakland staff. Things changed for him when he started featuring a cutter, and he's posted a 3.28 ERA since the start of last season. He's not a star by any means, but Chavez is indeed useful. 

Until next week!